Blog Bat Around - What I Collect

One of my favorite blogs to read is Night Owl Cards.  Recently he officially declared a blog bat around on what we fellow bloggers collect.  I don't participate in these often enough.  So here goes!  And this one will be a good exercise for me as well. I tend to collect in spurts, changing my focus from thing to thing. This is a good way to regroup on where I'm at and where I'm going with each.  So here's what I collect.

1. Aaron Sele

Where things are at.  Sele was my very first player collection.  I started it in 1994 when I made the connection that a childhood friend of mine was playing in the major leagues with the Boston Red Sox.  A PC was a welcome change to the set collecting I had been doing exclusively until then.  I have probably 90+% of his cards (just under 500).  When I enter them in the TCDB I will know for sure.

Where things are going.  He's showed up in a couple of buyback issues, so I'm trying to pick those up as they appear.  And I'm also trying to fill the remaining PC gaps, but I haven't seen anything I need in a couple of years now.  So for all practical purposes, this one is stalled.

2. Boston Red Sox

Where things are at.  My goal with the Red Sox is to obtain one card of each player from each year.  I start by getting the complete flagship team sets and then filling in who's missing from other brands. I have every Red Sox team set back to 1948.  I'm missing one card from 1947.  There's a big reward if any of you can lead me to Tip Top Boo Ferris.  Then I'm complete back to 1933 again.  I'm also complete from 1909-1912.  But from 1913 to 1932 it's pretty hit and miss.  Some years I don't even know of a set to collect.  In addition to the flagships, I also have most Red Sox Finest Refractors back to 1993, but not all.  I have a TON of Red Sox trade bait that I've accumulated over the years.  I'm entering that into the TCDB right now.
Where things are going.  Given the brands on the market right now, I want to get the Topps, Donruss, Bowman, and Finest Refractors teams sets every year going forward.  Recent cards is where most of the action I've seen on the TCDB is at, so I hope to get these via trades.  I also want to go back and fill in the updated and traded Red Sox team sets next. I have some, but honestly don't know how big an effort this is going to be. I know Topps, Fleer, Donruss, and Score have produced them over the years.  And of course, I'll keep my eyes open for good deals in that 1913-1932 range.

3. Baseball sets

Where things are at.  I have every Topps set from 1976 to 2017, minus a couple from the past five years.  I need one more card to complete both the 1974 and 1975 sets.  I need a couple dozen more for 1973.
Where things are going.  Just yesterday, I put all of 1970, 1971, and 1972 on my want list on the TCDB.  I like to work several sets at a time.  That should take me a while to put together.  Someday, I'll just keep working my way back into the 60's.

4. Los Angeles Lakers

Where things are at.  I have every Lakers team set back to 1969-70.  I also have most of their Finals Jersey cards from the early 2000's.  And of course, I have most of their Finest Refractors going back to 1993-94.  And when those stopped I switched to and have most of their Panini Silver Prizms.  I used to have PC's going for A.C. Green, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Robert Horry, Rick Fox, and Derek Fisher.  But after their playing days were done, they don't interest me any more.  So they're all trade bait.  I've entered some high end stuff of theirs in my trade list on the TCDB, lots of it serial numbered 100 or less.

Where things are going.  I have no Lakers prior to 1969-70.  I need to take an inventory of what there is to collect from back then and dive in.  I have a couple Kobe Bryant rookie Finest Refractors that I need, but they're way up there in price, so I need someone with whom I can trade a bunch of cards for them.  Going forward for team sets, Panini Hoops is the main brand now, so I'll go after them.  I also need to go year by year and see who's missing from the flagship sets that I could obtain from other brands.  I also am after the rookie Panini Silver Prizms from the past few years.

5. Pittsburgh Steelers

Where things are at.  Again, I'm after team sets when it comes to the Steelers.  I have every one back to 1950. (Bowman before the Topps years.)  I've accumulated duplicates for trade bait of most of the 1970's Steelers.  I also have all the Steelers Finest Refractors and Panini Silver Prizms going back to 1994.

Where things are going.  Score is the main flagship set now.  So going forward I'll pursue their Steelers team sets, as well as the Panini Silver Prizms each year.  Like with the Lakers, I need to find out what Steelers players weren't included in the flagship team sets from 1950 to present and go after them too.

6. Basketball sets

Where things are at.  I have every Topps complete set going back to 1976-77.  In recent years I have about half of the Panini Hoops sets since Topps stopped doing basketball.

Where things are going.  Yesterday, I marked the mid-70's Topps sets on my want list on the TCDB.  I also want to pick up the Donruss set from 2010-11 and the remaining Hoops sets from the past seven years.

7. Red Sox minor leagues

Where things are at. I'm very fortunate that my favorite major league team has historically had a deep minor league pool of future big league players.  That makes collecting them interesting.  I have almost every team set going back to 1981.  Prior to that I haven't seen much available.  I also have most of the Bowman Prospects (or similar sets) going back to when they first started introducing them.  I like Bowman for the fact that they focus a lot on minor league players.  And it's a way to get cards of them in Red Sox uniforms.
Where things are going.  I have a few random team sets I'm trying to find.  The current Boston Red Sox minor league teams are the Pawtucket Red Sox (AAA), Portland Sea Dogs (AA), Salem Red Sox (A+), Greenville Drive (A), and Lowell Spinners (A-).  So going forward I'll try to get those teams each year.  And also I'll continue to get the Bowman Prospect sets, hopefully via trade from now on.

8. Football sets
Where things are at.  I have every Topps football set from 1977 to 2015, spare one or two from the past 6-7 years.  When Topps got out of football, I moved over to Score.  I have one of their last two complete sets.
Where things are going.  I want to start working backwards prior to 1976 like I did with baseball.  At this point I'm pretty unorganized with that era.  I'll probably just throw those sets on my wantlist on the TCDB and start obtaining cards that way.  I have almost zero football cards from prior to 1976 except for Steelers.  So that'll keep me busy for a while.

9. Dallas Stars

Where things are at.  The only thing I collect of hockey is Dallas Stars team sets.  I have a smattering of their teams sets going back to 1983-84, but there are more gaps than filled.  It seems like a bit of work to get really organized in hockey, as the flagship brands have changed a lot over the years.

Where things are going.  I want to get more active in completing those Stars and North Stars team sets, at least back as far as Topps goes.  I also might want to venture into Finest or other refractors of Mike Modano, but I honestly don't even know what there is.  Hockey is my least active collection of the big four sports.

10. Carl Yastrzemski

Where things are at.  After Aaron Sele, Yaz is my largest PC.  I'm pretty organized on this blog's Yaz page with what I have so far, but haven't done anything yet with it on the TCDB.  I've always had lots of Yaz cards just from the Red Sox team sets, but it was only in the past ten years that I have been trying to pick up more.

Where things are going. Since his playing days ended, there are lots and lots of cards of his to collect, maybe even dozens each year.  I expect to grow this PC through trades only.  I'm not spending money on it right now.

11. Star Wars

Where things are at.  I have the majority of the 1977 Topps set from when I was a kid. I'm mostly missing cards from the green and orange subsets.

Where things are going. Once I complete the 1977 set, that will be it. Well, I take that back. I might finish up the Wonder Bread set from about that same year. I have about half of them so far.

Speaking of non-sports cards, I have several hundred others from the late 70's time period; Star Trek, Close Encounters, Battlestar Galactica, Elvis, Charlie's Angels, Planet of the Apes, maybe more. Someday I hope to get them in the trading card database to see what kind of interest there is for them. I have no attachment to them and would trade them all.

So there you have it.  It's probably more than you ever wanted to know about what I'm collecting, but at least it was a good holistic refresher for me.